The Truth
Ember Smith bursts through the doors of Hawkins High School, practically skipping as she rushes to her locker to grab her books for the first period of the day. Today is the last day of school before spring break, marking the beginning of her week-long vacation with her perfect boyfriend, the one and only Steve Harrington. She ignored the sniggers and glares from her fellow classmates as she reaches her locker, wishing the girls at her school would get over her relationship with Steve already, it had been eleven months after all. Although their relationship hadn't been long, Ember knew that Steve was the man of her dreams and couldn't wait for them to graduate in three months so they could begin their lives together.
"Good morning, baby," Steve's voice whispers in her ear, causing her to jump in surprise.
"Steve!" She laughs, pushing him playfully, lingering her hand on his chest as leans up into a kiss. "You startled me, I didn't think I'd get to see you before class."
"Sorry I'm a bit late, I stopped by that flower shop you live and got you these," he smiles, pulling out a bundle of daisies from behind his back, Ember's favourite. His heart warms as he watches her eyes light up, loving how the simple things bring her so much joy.
"Oh my gosh, they're gorgeous! Steve, you shouldn't have," she blushes, admiring the flowers. Steve has always been so attentive and constantly does little things to show her he cares. Ember doesn't know how she managed to get so lucky, but she is thankful for him every day.
"Gorgeous flowers for an even more gorgeous girl," he smiles, placing a kiss on her cheek.
"Hey lovebirds," carols voice calls both of their attention. Ember looks over to see her good friend Carol and her boyfriend, Tommy. He has his arm wrapped around her waist, leaning on the locker with an amused look on his face, while Carol looks like something is bothering her.
"Hey, Carol! Is everything okay?" Ember tilts her head in concern. After she and Steve got together she and Carol had become very close. She's one of the only girls who wasn't jealous of her for getting with 'the king' of Hawkins High. In Ember's opinion, it was all just plain ridiculous.
"Hey Em, yeah I was just hoping we could talk at lunchtime?" She gives her a soft smile, looking down at her feet.
"You okay, babe?" Tommy questions, picking up on his girlfriend's odd behaviour.
"Oh- uh, yeah... everything's fine. Just need to have a girl talk, that's all," she brushes him off.
"Of course, Carol. Just meet me out by the big oak tree, okay?" Ember gives her a reassuring smile, hoping she will be able to fix whatever is bothering her friend.
"Perfect. C'mon, Tommy. We better get to class. Bye guys!" She says before dragging him off behind her.
"Well, that was odd!" Ember giggles, looking back to Steve whose face holds an expression she can't read.
"Yeah... it was. Why don't I walk you to your class?" He brushes it off.
"Sure, let me just put these in my locker," she says while delicately laying her flowers in a safe place. "Let's go!"
~~~
The first two classes drag out painfully slow, making Ember's mind run wild thinking of all the things Carol could possibly want to talk to her about. Is she having trouble with Tommy?
"Hey, Smith," an all too familiar deep voice rings into her ears, snapping her from her thoughts.
"What the hell do you want, Hargrove?" She groans, looking over toward Billy who is sitting at the desk next to hers.
"You still with that loser, Harrington?" He smirks, leaning his elbow on his desk, and resting his face on his hand. His icy blue eyes burning into hers sends an uncomfortable feeling over her body.
"Yes, yes I am Billy. Now stop distracting me from the lesson," she narrows her eyes at him, causing an evil smirk to spread across his faces
"Awe, am I distracting you? You know me and you could just ditch this class and go behind the school to-"
"Shut up!" She hisses out, glaring daggers at him. "We both know you only flirt with me all the time because you think it would be hilarious to get your rival's girlfriend, but news flash Billy, that's not gonna happen, so drop the act!"
"Come on, baby. You need a real man to take care of you," he purrs, reaching out to squeeze her thigh. Ember quickly slaps his hand away in horror.
"Steve is more man than you'll ever be," she rolls her eyes. "Also, touch me again and I'll kick you where the sun doesn't shine." She watches him grin at her words and she can't help but think that he must have a couple of screws loose.
Before Billy can drive her crazy any longer the bell rings, signalling the beginning of lunch. Ember wastes no time before gathering up her books into her arms and running out of the science lab.
Okay, she thinks it herself. I just need to drop off these heavy books at my locker and then I can find out what's on Carol's mind.
She shoved the books into the top of her locker, slamming it close before turning sharply and running straight into a hard chest.
"Steve! You need to stop sneaking up on me today!"
"Sorry love. Just wanted to see my favourite girl before you go talk to Carol. I know how you two are, you'll probably be out there all lunch," he laughs. "I love you," he smiles down at her, brushing stray auburn hairs from her face.
"I love you too, Harrington," she blushes, placing a loving kiss on his soft lips. "I'll try to be quick, I want to see you again before the next class starts." She tells him, pecking his lips one more time before turning to head down the hall. She glances back at him, giggling when she sees him watching her walk away until she's out of sight.
She reaches the field behind the school, seeing her friend waiting for her by the tree as they discussed.
"Hey Carol," she smiles, giving her a hug. "What's this about? Not that I don't love spending time with you of course, but something seems to be bothering you. Is it Tommy?"
"No, it's not Tommy... it's nothing to do with me, it's about you." She frowns, taking a seat at the base of the tree and patting the grass next to her for me to sit down too.
"What about me? You're scaring me a bit Carol," Ember frowns, sitting on the damp spring grass.
"It's Steve... he hasn't told you the full truth," she says shakily, making Ember's throat dry up.
"What do you mean? He hasn't told me the full truth about what?" Ember's heart races, a million questions flying through her mind at once.
"You know how he dated Nancy Wheeler last year?" She bites her lip, taking a deep breath. "Well, he was pretty heartbroken over the whole situation, and embarrassed that she left him for Jonathon Byers," she starts explaining, watching the confusion grow on Ember's face.
"I know that he and Nancy dated, but that was over a year ago. What does this have to do with anything now?"
"The thing is, he wasn't completely over Nancy after their breakup, and he wanted to get her back. He... he came up with a plan to start dating a girl just to make Nancy jealous so that she would realize she made a mistake by leaving him for Byers..." Carol watches Ember's face turn pale like a ghost, her chest raising up and down heavily as tears threaten to spill from her eyes.
"W-what? You must be mistaken, there's no way! He-he said he loves me!" Ember feels her world crashing down at the same time her walls are being built back up, brick by brick.
"It's true. I know because... he told me and Tommy his plan after they broke up. I told him it was a stupid idea, but he insisted it would work. But soon after you guys started dating he quickly told us he was ditching the plan because he realized he actually really likes you, and he didn't want Nancy back anymore. He begged us to not mention it because he didn't want to lose you... but we've gotten so close Em, I couldn't keep it in anymore. Please don't hate me," Carol frowns, wiping the tears from Ember's face.
The last thing Carol ever wanted was to hurt her friend, but she couldn't keep this in anymore. This secret was tearing her apart and keeping her up at night, she couldn't even eat properly lately. Now that Ember and Steve's one-year anniversary was coming up she knew she had to bring it up. Ember doesn't deserve to be in the dark about Steve's original intentions.
"I can't believe this... how could he!" Ember yells, feeling betrayed, embarrassed and devastated.
"If it helps, I do believe he loves you..." Carol tells her.
"Yeah, he loves me now but only wanted to use me to get Nancy fucking Wheeler back. Why me?" Ember asks, feeling her sadness turning into anger.
"Well, it was right around the time Billy moved here. He and Billy didn't get along right from the start and he heard rumours that Billy was going to ask you out. He thought if you guys started dating he'd get Nancy back and make Billy jealous. Plus you guys have known each other for years and always got along well, so he thought it's easy to get you to agree to a date."
"So he wanted to kill two birds with one stone?" Ember spits out bitterly, trying hard to contain her emotions before she runs into the cafeteria and causes a scene.
"Yeah, I guess he did," Carol frowns. "What are you going to do?"
"I have to break up with him," ember swallows the lump in her throat. "I won't be able to look at him the same. I love him so much Carol, but how can I keep dating him when every time I look at him I'm going to remember that I was just a pawn in his game to get Nancy back? I do believe he loves me now, but it's too late. I know the truth now."
"I understand, I wouldn't be able to stay with Tommy either if he did that to me," Carol frowns, pulling Ember into her arms. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"It's okay, I don't blame you, Carol," she sighs. "I need to find Steve and dump his ass. Then, I'm going to get my revenge."
